Walk The Plank
by Savior of the Truth
Summary: Just some pointless night at #12 Grimmauld Place. Remus, Tonks and Sirius. Oh, and Kreacher of course. First HP fanfic ever. Ye've been warned. RLNT. Rating cause I don't have a clue.


_Okay, here we go. My first try at a HP fanfic. I've got some SPOILER warning for you, too: I know it sounds strange, but this contains spoilers for "I Am Legend". So if you haven't seen this movie yet, and intending to watch it whenever, don't read this or you'll be mad at me for ruining the end._

_Disclaimer: oh, it's been really really long since I've actually written a disclaimer, I forgot how to do it. Just kidding, though it's been long. I don't own any of these characters I just like to write my ideas down. They belong to JK Rowling, though I don't see why you did what you did to them in Deathly Hallows… I don't even own the title, it belongs to the Walt Disney Records, Klaus Badelt and Hans Zimmer. Yeah, pity me._

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**Walk The Plank**

It was a cold night at the beginning of the New Year. The wind howled piercingly, the sky was the darkest blue, flecked with white stars and a decreasing moon standing high.

Only few people dared to be outside at this late hour, because there were huge amounts of gangs present in London. Most people avoided the streets after 10 p.m., not so two members of the Order of the Phoenix.

The collars of their robes drawn up against the cold wind, scarves wrapped tightly around them, they were on their way home. Or at least what they called their home by now.

Remus Lupin, former professor at Hogwarts – school of witchcraft and wizardry – and dear friend of Sirius Black, the infamous mass murderer, was freezing. His robe was worn and old and so were his pants. He had left his gloves at #12 Grimmaul Place, therefore his hands were beginning to get numb from the cold.

Nymphadora Tonks, Auror and cousin of Sirius Black, the infamous mass murderer, on the other hand seemed not to feel the cold. She was walking happily beside her companion, chatting on about the weather, order duties and several other things that came to mind. She was apparently enjoying herself.

Remus smiled.

Her mood was contagious. Every time she smiled or laughed, he felt the urge to smile, too. He wondered briefly if Sirius and the others felt the same way, but quickly went back to present, when she waved a hand in front of his face.

"You there?" she asked, a bemused smile on her face.

"Sorry, I guess I was lost in thoughts." He turned to look at her just in time to witness her stumbling over an uneven piece of earth. He reached out and managed to slow her fall, but she landed on the ground anyway. Now it was his turn to show a bemused smile.

"Are you alright?" he asked, half worried, half laughing.

"You know me, I think I'll survive." She grinned in return, standing up.

They resumed walking.

"What did you think about?" she demanded suddenly.

"Excuse me?" he looked rather surprised, his brows drawn up.

"Before I tripped. What did you think about?" she repeated.

"Nothing special." He cast a sideway look at her, wondering why he didn't just tell her. It was not a secret that he was in better mood every time she visited Grimmauld Place. She even managed to cheer up grumpy Sirius.

Again he was pulled back into reality by her.

"Look! It's snowing!"

It was like watching a little child become over-excited about the first snow. She had stopped walking again and was staring up at the dark night sky where small white pieces of snow were falling from. Her face had lit up again, her cheeks a rosy colour by now and her eyes sparkling even more than usually. It was endearing.

"Come on, I assume Sirius will be waiting for us." Remus pointed out.

"He will be delighted about the snow- oh but. Never mind. It's so sad that he isn't allowed to got outside..." Tonks face darkened. It was so easy to forget that Sirius had to stay inside the old, dusty house, when they themselves were able to go everywhere they wanted. Theoretically.

They walked the rest of the short way in silence, each of them lost in their own thoughts.

"Nymphadora, where are you going?" Remus asked, a smile tugging at the corners of his lips.

Tonks stopped in her tracks, only to find herself in front of #14 Grimmauld Place. She blushed, turned towards Remus and walked back to his side, standing before #13 Grimmauld Place.

'The headquarters of the Order of the Phoenix may be found at number twelve, Grimmauld Place, London.'

Sure enough a dark, gloomy looking house appeared right in between number 11 and 13. Remus and Tonks chanced a glance to the left… to the right… then, after a brief look into the others eyes, they climbed the few stairs up to the heavy door. Remus – being the gentleman he is – drew his wand to open the door. He tapped the wood with his wand and after the usual clicking and rattling of locks and chains he gripped the snake-shaped doorknob and pushed it open. They went inside the house, trying to make as little noise as possible.

The hall was completely dark. But from the far end they could make out dim light. Slowly, carefully they made their way through the hall, eyes fixed on the spot where light came out from under another door. The door to the kitchen.

Remus abruptly turned around. In the same split of the second, Tonks foot got caught – how could it be any other way? – in the troll's foot umbrella stand. She fell right into Remus' arms, making his pulse beat increase.

She grinned up at him and opened her mouth to speak. But Remus placed a finger of his free hand on her lips, motioning for her to keep quiet. Tonks inhaled sharply, something inside her stomach had just stirred to life and was now fluttering around happily.

A noise came from behind the door, making the two jump. They blushed simultaneously and quickly composed themselves. Remus opened the door and the pair entered the kitchen.

Sirius Black was sitting at the large, dark, wooden table, facing the door and in result now grinning at his friends. Three bottles of butterbeer had been situated in the middle of the table and having come straight from the cold, Remus and Tonks lost no time to join Sirius and sat down.

Sirius opened the bottles with a flick of his wand and stroked his long, black hair out of his eyes.

"So, how was the movie?" he asked curiously, taking a long gulp of butterbeer. The room was almost as dark as the hall, but one lonely candle was burning intractably, gently floating above the spot where the bottles had been standing.

Tonks flinched slightly and tried to make it look as though she just wanted to stretch her arms, but Sirius noticed anyway.

"It was... quite entertaining. But you really have to be adjusted to that kind of movie to really fancy it, I guess." Remus replied in his analyzing professor sort-of voice.

"So, you didn't like it?" Sirius resumed.

"I did not say that." Remus stated, obviously not wanting to hurt someone's feelings. After all, it had been Sirius' choice which movie to view. They had sat in the very places they did now and discussed how boring life would be without the Order of the Phoenix. Tonks had confessed that she had gotten two days off from work and both Remus and her had no assignments for the Order so far.

Sirius had suggested to organize a Wizard's Chess turnament, but both Tonks and Remus had not felt positive about the idea. Then Sirius had started informing them about a new movie having started at the muggle theatre. He had read about it in the newspaper - Tonks had brought him a muggle one for a change - and since he was not allowed to go watch it himself he had talked his best friend and younger cousin into it. Having nothing better to do, Tonks had promptly volunteered to find a theatre near Grimmaul Place to go to. Remus had complained but at long last he was not able to win against an innocent mass murderer and an Auror; they had threatened to foist Snape a love potion and make the git fall for Remus...

So the Auror and the werewolf had set off towards the muggle theatre at 7 p.m..

"So you did like it?" Sirius pressed on.

"I don't know. As I said before, I think one has to be addicted or at least adjusted to these movies. It was well done, with the special effects and everything, but the story was peculiar and... I really don't know if I liked it or not, sorry." Remus glanced to his side where Tonks was seated.

Her gaze was fixed on the bottle in her hands.

"What about you, Tonks?" Sirius turned towards the pink-haired witch. "Tonks?"

Tonks had apparently been lost in thoughts, and she jumped slightly when Sirius called her name. "What? Sorry..."

"How did you like the movie?" Sirius repeated, not the least bit annoyed.

"Well, the muggles do well with these special effects, you know. They really know how to scare you, too. Every time I relaxed, the sound going all quiet and slow, they came back full force, and all of a sudden, too, and I jumped and almost screamed. They really do a great job in these horror movies." She answered, back to the excited mood from before. "I hope it didn't bother you that I was so jumpy all the time." she then added looking at Remus, almost apologetically.

"Not at all. I'm pleased that you enjoyed the evening." he reassured her, his voice hoarse as usual.

Sirius rolled is eyes. They drank their butterbeer in silence, each of them seemingly lost in thoughts.

"How did it end then?" Sirius asked. He had read about the plot, but the muggle newspaper had obviously not spoiled the ending of the movie.

Since Tonks did not seem to want to talk about the movie, Remus decided to explain to his friend. "Well, you know about the virus that had divulged and the physician was researching for the antidote. He had captured one of the infected people and chained her in his laboratory to test his antidote. Then a young woman and a small boy joined him, they had heard him speaking on the radio and were resistant to the virus as well, and they were being attacked one night. Well, they hid in the cellar, the laboratory, and the infected people broke through the door. That's when the professor realized that his antidote had actually worked on his test object. He quickly took a blood sample from the test person and handed it to the woman he was with, then he hid her and the boy in a chute, took a hand grenade from his desk and pulled the stud. The next morning the woman and boy managed to escape, they went north where a village had been founded by those few people, who the virus had left unaffected. That's the end."

"So, he detonated. Himself?" Sirius asked dumbfounded.

"He had lost his wife, his daughter and his dog." Tonks explained. "I guess he thought that at least he was dying for a good thing. He probably saved the rest of the world's population with his antidote."

There followed a long silence. Sirius was staring at Tonks, still unbelievingly. Remus drank his butterbeer and Tonks kept glancing around the room nervously.

"Well, I'm off to bed, I guess." Sirius yawned at long last and stood up. Tonks and Remus looked at him as though he had gone mental. It was not his habit to go to bed before 2 a.m., least of all having drunk nothing despite butterbeer all evening. But what they could not see was the sly grin forming on Sirius' face right before he exited the kitchen.

Remus suddenly started feeling nervous and tried desperately to think of something to say.

Tonks took another sip of her butterbeer and then a deep breath, trying to calm down her pulse, which had picked up the instant she'd been left alone with Remus.

Tonks yawned, but didn't move. She was tired, work had been especially exhausting these days and the dim, cold atmosphere of #12 Grimmauld Place didn't help, either. Despite all that, she remained where she was, because she always loved spending time with Remus.

But Remus – of course – noticed her tiredness. He wondered why she wasn't simply going to bed since she had moved into the room previously occupied by Hermione and Ginny, so she did not even have to leave for her apartment.

Since he still couldn't come up with a topic to talk about, his head was in fact completely deserted apart from a certain pink haired witch, he decided to do her a favour and break the silence otherwise.

"I'm off to bed, then, also." he announced and stood up. Tonks' head shot to her right, her eyes fixed on Remus. She was looking slightly shocked.

"Wait! I'm coming, too." she said hastily and stood up. In that process she got her foot caught in the chair's leg, and fell forward, Remus – acting quickly again – caught her hands and prevented her from colliding with the cold stony floor.

"No need to hurry." He smiled.

"Sorry." She blushed.

"No need to be." He smiled kindly.

They exited the kitchen and made their way up the stairs to the first floor, very careful not to wake the portrait of Sirius' mother. At the top of the stairs Remus turned right, silently waving 'goodnight' to Tonks, while she almost tiptoed to the left. They reached their rooms and the only noise in the house was the soft clicking of two doors pulled shut.

Tonks entered her room and shut the door behind her. She turned the lamp hanging from the ceiling on and – only to be safe – also the small one on her bedside table. Ten minutes later she had changed into her pyjamas and brushed her teeth. She crawled into her bed, pulling the covers over her body, but the lamp was still burning.

"Merlin, Tonks! You're 22, not five years old!" she scolded herself and picked up her wand from the bedside table, swinging it around and turning the light off.

She stared into the darkness for about five minutes, eyes wide open but not seeing a thing. It was as though she had gone blind, therefore she was now listening intently. The pipes were quietly whispering, water running though them. The ceiling was squeaking under the wind outside. She even thought she had heard Sirius turn in his bed on the floor above her.

Tonks lay down, tired, but she jumped every time she heard a noise even though she knew exactly where it came from.

About half an hour went by very, very slowly, and she was becoming annoyed as for her lack of sleep. Sighing, she sat up, pulled the covers off herself and grabbed her wand again.

"Lumos." she whispered and sure enough a dot of light appeared at the end of her wand, lighting about three meters around her. She stood up and went to the door again, opening it slowly and stepped into the hall, shutting the door behind her.

She ended up outside the door of a certain someone, feeling extremely childish and stupid all of a sudden. Her hand hung in the air between the wood of the door and her body, but she couldn't bring herself to knock.

Suddenly there was a loud thud down in the hall a floor below. Tonks flinched and couldn't move as though she was paralyzed. A second later the shrill and loud voice of Mrs Black's portrait filled the entire house.

"BLOOD-TRAITORS! WEREWOLVES! FILTHY HALF-BREEDS!"

Remus had positioned himself on his bed, but since he wasn't exactly tired, he had pulled a book from his suitcase and started reading. For almost 40 minutes everything had been quiet.

Then he had heard slow, light footsteps coming down the corridor. They had stopped outside his door, remaining there for another two minutes. Remus had grabbed his wand, laying the book aside, and listened – almost holding his breath.

Suddenly he heard a noise from the floor below, and then Sirius' mother's lovely voice following suite.

"BLOOD-TRAITORS! WEREWOLVES! FILTHY HALF-BREEDS!"

Remus jumped off his bed, wand ready and bolted through the door.

Unfortunately, Nymphadora Tonks was still standing outside his room. As a result, Remus crashed right into her, sending them both flying to the ground.

Tonks was taken by surprise, so it took her a few seconds more to realize the situation. Remus had already pulled himself onto knees and hands, so his weight did not crash her. He looked down at her, obviously very surprised to find her there.

"Are you alright?" he asked worriedly.

"Yes. For once I'm not to blame for ending up on the ground." She grinned up at him.

He smiled.

"Well, as much as I want to just say 'finally', are you two going to help me shut my mum up?"

They both turned their heads. Sirius had apparently come down from the floor above to see what the trouble was about. He was now grinning at the pair lying on the floor in a very compromising position.

Remus and Tonks blushed and stood up. Together they headed down the rest of the stairs, Remus and Sirius instantly grabbing a curtain each and pulling it back over the screaming portrait. It shut up at once, and the hall was quiet again.

Tonks was standing at the door, risking a glance outside at the street, but nobody seemed to be there. Remus walked over to her and, leaning over her shoulder to have a look himself, his breath tickled her neck, sending shivers down her spine.

„So, what the hell was going on up there?"

They both turned again. Sirius was standing in the hall, arms crossed over his chest, a winning grin stretching out over his face.

"I'm rather interested in what caused the noise down here." Remus said in an attempt to get off the subject.

"…blood-traitors, werewolves, if my poor mistress knew about the unworthy beings going in and out her house…"

All three of them saw the old house-elf walking towards the kitchen door -muttering quietly to himself - and disappearing behind it.

"Well, as this question has been answered; what was going on up there?" Sirius repeated, smiling broadly.

"I heard the noise and wanted to see what had caused it. I didn't know Tonks was outside my door and crashed into her. That's how we ended up on the ground." Remus explained calmly.

"What were you doing outside Remus' door?" Sirius asked Tonks, his grin widening if possible.

"I heard the noise, too, and was running towards the stairs when Remus bumped into me." Tonks lied quite convincingly.

"Oh." Sirius looked disappointed. "Well, that's actually sad, because I always thought you two would be making a great couple."

The black haired man threw his friends another impudent grin and disappeared into the darkness, apparently heading back to his room. Remus and Tonks stared after him, then looked at each other briefly and blushed.

They ascended the stairs in silence, and, reaching the first floor, Tonks immediately turned to the left.

"What were you doing outside my door?" Remus asked suddenly, making Tonks stop dead in her tracks.

She slowly turned to face him and tried to look most innocent. "I was just rushing past your room, like I said before."

Remus raised his eyebrows. It was obvious that he didn't believe her. He opened the door to his room and gestured her inside. Tonks hung her head in defeat and entered his room, Remus following and closing the door.

He sat down on the edge of his bed and gently patted the spot right beside himself, mentioning for her to sit down. Tonks took her time to cross the room, trying to think fast - a rather difficult feat being with Remus in his bedroom - but finally sat down beside him on the soft mattress.

"I heard you walking down the hallway earlier, stopping at my door." he explained quietly.

"I…" she began, her head apparently still empty. "Alright. This stupid movie got me scared. I couldn't sleep, I couldn't stop thinking about monsters hiding in my room, so I did the only thing I could think of. Or wanted to do it, at least. I was looking for company. Probably asking to sleep on the couch in your room."

When she had finished her little soliloquy, she stood up abruptly, intending to leave.

But a warm, gentle hand caught hers, stopping her again. Tonks turned and looked at Remus with an expression that said: "Ain't I done humiliating myself?"

But Remus reached for her other hand and captured it, too.

"There is no couch in my room, I'm afraid." he said, biting back a smile that was fighting its way onto his face.

Tonks blushed. 'Adorable.' Remus thought.

"Will you let me go back to my room, now?" she inquired, feeling her face heat up by the second.

"So that you'll be able to sit on your bed all night, observing your room for monsters?" he asked, now definitely smiling.

"I know it's stupid. It was just a movie and I know that." she responded, trying to break his grip on her hands. But held her firmly in place.

"You can't choose your fears. It's something natural, you can probably overcome it one day, but this is not on you to blame." he reassured her. "I apologize for making fun of it."

She simply nodded.

"Well. Goodnight then." she whispered after some moments of silence. But Remus only raised his eyebrows in question and tightened the hold on her hands.

"I could never live with myself letting you stay up all night because of me." Remus pointed out. He stood up from the bed and fixed his eyes on hers, all the while never letting go of her hands.

"Why would that be your fault?" Tonks asked confused. Remus smiled softly.

"Because I agreed to accompany you to the movies. Had I refused, you would not have to suffer." he explained matter-of-factly.

Tonks couldn't stop the smile spreading across her face. He was the last one to blame for her sudden moment of weakness and they both knew it. But it didn't seem to matter at this precise moment, because the way he was holding her in place with only his gaze and loose hold of her hands, made her realize his earlier suggestion.

"You don't have a couch." she repeated his previous statement.

"I'm willing to share my far too huge bed with you."

Tonks' mouth fell open, her eyes widening. Never since she had known him, she would have suspected an outright invitation like that from him.

Remus' smile faded, being replaced by a look of uncertainty. Had he said too much? Hadn't she come to him with this intention after all?

As he was lost in his troubled thoughts, Tonks shook her head slightly – in a manner to come back to the present and stop gaping at Remus. She then blushed slightly and wound her hands out of his grasp.

Remus was prepared for it. The moment he had suggested for her to spend the night in his bed – in his company more exactly – he had known, dreaded but known, that she was going to walk away from that night. He let out his breath – had he been holding it? – and his heart sunk somewhere below his stomach. He had spoiled it.

But then he realized that Tonks was not heading in the direction of the door. Wasn't she going to leave? Apparently she wasn't. The pink haired Auror with the habit of wearing not quite matching clothes (Remus just noticed she was wearing a dark green extra-large t-shirt with graffity over the chest and totally clashing bright pink shorts) had sat down on the edge of his bed once more.

'Oh god…' Remus thought.

He was completely relieved and totally nervous all of a sudden again. He did not quite know which feeling was stronger; the racing heartbeat, along with the rushing of his blood, or the slight but very present panic of what to do next.

'Well, go to bed.' his brain told himself.

He moved as though in a trance, he slowly – almost painfully slow, Tonks thought – stepped around the bed to the side Tonks was not sitting on. He had never thought it possible to feel so awkward lying down in his bed.

While he busied himself with untangling the sheets and covering himself, Tonks sat on the left side of the bed, cross-legged, and observed him. Remus finally admitted to himself that he was done, after having shifted about five times and turning the sheet over like another dozen times.

He chanced a look at her. Her eyes stared into his and she looked like she was waiting for something. It suddenly occurred to him, that Tonks might feel a bit awkward herself and didn't know how to act either. This thought filled Remus again with confidence.

He smiled softly at her and then extended his left arm to her. Surprise occupied Tonks' features for a brief moment before she snuggled into his arms, her head resting in the spot between Remus' shoulder and neck. She curled up at his side, sighing contently.

Remus closed his eyes, thinking that – even though they were just lying there, arm in arm – never in his life he had felt something like this. The feeling was so intense that it made a shiver run down his spine.

Tonks felt the movement and looked up at Remus. "Are you alright?"

Her breath tickled his cheek, sending another shiver through him. He wondered if she felt the same way.

"Yes. In every way. Goodnight, Nymphadora."

He turned his face towards her and dropped a chaste kiss on her forehead, sending a shiver through her body.

**The End.  
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_I would really be delighted about some comments._


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